Much like he had all match, Stan Wawrinka relied on his backhand when he needed it most.
After a hard-hit first serve that forced a weak return from Novak Djokovic, the world's No. 1 player, the eighth-seeded Swiss native used his one-handed backhand to drive the ball down the line for a winner, capturing his first-ever French Open championship in the process.
Wawrinka won in four sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
This is Wawrinka's second-ever grand slam title as he also won the 2014 Australian Open, a win many downplayed due to Rafael Nadal's injuries that day. No one will doubt Wawrinka's brilliant performance on Sunday, as he took control of the match in the final three sets.
Djokovic, who has won the Australian Open five times, Wimbledon twice and the U.S. Open once, is still chasing his first French Open title.
Wawrinka is the second Swiss player to win the French Open in the past seven years as Roger Federer won the French Open in 2009. Other than Wawrinka and Federer, Nadal has every other French Open championship since 2005.
Wawrinka is the lowest seed to win the tournament since 2004, when unseeded Gaston Gaudio of Argentina took home the title.
Djokovic had plenty of chances to take this match to a fifth set. He held a 3-0 lead in the fourth set before Wawrinka tied it with two holds and by breaking Djokovic's serve. Djokovic then held to move up 4-3 and had three break points to put himself one game away from extending the match to a final fifth set.
Wawrinka then reeled off five consecutive points to take the game. Subsequently, Wawrinka claimed the final two games to win the match.
"I played my best tennis today," Wawrinka told NBC Sports analyst and seven-time grand slam champion John McEnroe.
Wawrinka hit 60 winners, which doubled Djokovic's 30. Wawrinka was tough at the net as well, winning 23 of his 33 approach attempts.
